FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, August 3, 2006

ANOTHER SURI SIGHTING: Tom Cruise's ex, Penelope Cruz, joining the list of people who claim to have laid eyes on his daughter, Suri. Cruz calling the infant "one of the most beautiful babies I've ever seen." Who's next on the viewing list, Nicole Kidman?

MEL HELL: Rob Schneider writing an open letter to the Hollywood community in Daily Variety, in which he vowed as a "1/2 Jew" never to work with Mel Gibson again, even if "Mr. Gibson offered me the lead role in Passion of the Christ 2."

TEXAS SHUFFLE: Jennifer Lopez pulling out of the upcoming Dallas movie, her rep confirmed. It's the second setback for the film, after director Robert Luketic dropped the project earlier this year, citing "creative differences." No word on the reason for J. Lo's exit, but we're guessing this places her back on bump watch.

CAUSE FOR CLAYMATE CELEBRATION: Clay Aiken releasing his third album, A Thousand Different Ways, on Sept. 19. The album--the Idol runner-up's first since 2004--features covers of 10 well-known songs, plus four original songs. (Don't push yourself there, fella.)

WELCOME ABOARD: Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock recruiting former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr to write and record the follow-up album to Good News for People Who Like Bad News, Rolling Stone reports. Marr will also tour with the band in support of the album, potentially titled We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. (How very Morrissey.)

BLAST OFF: Emeril Lagasse becoming the first celebrity chef to send his recipes into space when the astronauts at the International Space Station dine on his cuisine on Aug. 10. Adding an awkward element to the dining experience, Lagasse will converse with the astronauts live via satellite as they nosh on his offerings.

LIKE A NAYSAYER: Rome's Catholic, Jewish and Muslim leaders coming together in a rare display of unity to condemn Madonna's plan to stage her mock-crucifixion scene on the Rome stop of her Confessions tour Sunday, complaining that the singer should pull the stunt out of consideration for where she is performing. The Material Girl's still got what it takes to stir up a little controversy.

LIKE A DO-GOODER: Meanwhile, Madonna is upping her chances of not going directly to hell by revealing to Time magazine her plans to care for orphans in Malawi, Africa. The artist has already committed to raising at least $3 million to fund programs for children in need.

BATTING FOR BRITNEY: Minor league baseball team the Newark Bears hosting a Britney Spears Baby Safety Night to spread the word about keeping babies safe in cars. Those who dress like babies, bring babies or bring baby toys get in for free. No word on what you get if you show up dressed like K-Fed.

ON THE MEND: Doug Fieger, frontman for The Knack, undergoing successful brain surgery Thursday to have two tumors removed, his doctor said. Feiger was expected to make a full recovery.

MCFRACTURE: Katharine McPhee fracturing her foot before a concert in North Concert after tripping backstage, per the New York Post. Though the Idol runner-up is reportedly "in discomfort," she plans to stick with the tour, a rep said. The show must go on--and besides, she already used up all her sick days.

HOME OF IDOLMANIA: The Alabama Bureau of Tourism planning to put up billboards featuring American Idol winners Taylor Hicks and Ruben Studdard and runner-up Bo Bice, who are all natives of the state. Whether this will serve to increase or decrease the flow of Alabama tourism is a toss up.

FASHION POLICE: (For those without Bravo, Project Runway SPOILER ALERT) Aspiring designer Keith Michael booted off Project Runway Wednesday after it was discovered that he had fashion pattern books in his room, which are against the show's rules. Michael had also left the production without permission and--gasp!--logged onto the Internet--a big no-no-no.

WE'LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS' LOOK-A-LIKE: No, that's not Paris Hilton nude in the latest Playboy--it's her increasingly tiresome doppelganger, Natalie Reid, who says she hopes the exposure will "lead to a lot of opportunities" in modeling and acting. And so the countdown begins to her inevitable reality show.

POINTING FINGERS: The widow of a photographer killed in a helicopter crash during filming on The Final Season suing Sean Astin and the movie's producers, among others, claiming that those involved in the film should have scouted the area better and noted the power lines that brought the chopper down.

FRIEND OR FOE: Bruce Willis suing his childhood friend and former employee Bruce DiMattia for extortion, claiming he hired his former friend to organize some personal family photos and videos, and that DiMattia is now threatening to make the material public unless Willis pays him $100,000. We can kinda get where he coming from--if our friend got famous and hired us to do mundane busy work, we might make ridiculous demands as well.

READY TO DIE: Meanwhile, Willis set to star in the fourth movie in the Die Hard franchise: Live Free or Die Hard, which is slated for a July 4, 2007 release.

UNDER THE WEATHER: Reps for Marie Osmond denying a National Enquirer report that the singer was hospitalized after a failed suicide attempt, explaining that she simply had an adverse reaction to medication. Osmond's manager compared responding to tabloid reports to "punching Jell-O." While we think he meant that as a bad thing, it actually sounds rather pleasant.

AILING: Grammy-winning musician Freddy Fender telling the Corpus Christi, Texas Caller-Times that he has incurable cancer after tumors were found on his lungs. "I cannot complain that I haven't lived long enough, but I'd like to live longer," the 69-year-old singer said.